The hacker group known as Anonymous has a new target: Facebook.
The self described civil disobedience group published a YouTube video titled “Message from Anonymous: Operation Facebook, Nov 5 2011” under the username “FacebookOps.”
The video’s super creepy modulated voice announces, “Your medium of communication you all so dearly adore will be destroyed … If you are hactivist or a guy who just wants to protect the freedom of information then join the cause and kill Facebook for the sake of your own privacy … Facebook has been selling your information to government agencies … Everything you do on Facebook stays on Facebook regardless of your privacy settings, and deleting your account is impossible … Facebook knows more about you than your family … You are not safe from them or any government.”
According to the video, November 5, 2011 is the day Anonymous will launch its operation against Facebook. (Article continues below)
“Think for a while, and prepare for a day that will go down in history,” the voice in the video says. “This is our world now. We exist without nationality, without religious bias. We have the right to not be surveilled, not be stalked, and not be used for profit. We have the right to not live as slaves.”
Whether the message is a real threat from Anonymous remains to be seen. Security expert Eugene Kaspersky, co-founder and CEO of Kaspersky Lab, tweeted that he doubts the veracity of the message. “The news around #Anonymous to attack #Facebook on Nov 5 most probably is fake,” he wrote.
Facebook declined to comment to ZDNet or Huffington Post on the video and threat.
Prior attacks carried out by Anonymous have targeted security company HBGary Federal, which had thousands of emails stolen, according to Ars Technica, Booz Allen Hamilton, which had 90,000 email addresses belonging to military officials, among others, revealed, as well as PayPal, U.S. police forces, and others.
Anonymous allegedly told the FBI earlier this year, “”Your threats to arrest us are meaningless to us as you cannot arrest an idea … There is nothing – absolutely nothing – you can possibly to do make us stop.”
My take on this is a confused one because I have such a love/hate relationship with Facebook. I love that it keeps me connected with friends. I love that it gives me a resource for sharing content like these blog posts with like-minded people. I love that Facebook has enabled me to create incredibly successful promotions for my clients and that is has helped oppressed people find a global voice.
Regarding privacy, I spent many years uploading personal photos and videos, which I’ve been painstakingly removing for many many months now as I shift my use of the site to be more professionally-focused. (Of course, Anonymous is right in that the content is never really deleted.)
Bottom line, I love many things about Facebook and part of me understands that it’s a free service and therefore, they’ve monetized it by selling our information. I mean, truly, nothing is ever really free, right? And, if you don’t want personal information sold, don’t publish it online, right? But, on the flip side of all of that, there is something to the big-brother accusations Anonymous is making here, so all I can really say is it will be interesting to see what happens in November.